Roadkill Photography - A Manifesto

"Noah"  03/19/2005 - Center Point, PA

I purchased this photograph (above) from Joy Hunsberger’s display at the Philly Punk Rock Flea Market in December, 2015. Why, you may ask. I can’t tell you, because I don’t always understand my motivations. I suppose I purchased it to make an emotional and artistic connection to someone who ALSO photographs dead animals. There, the truth is out – I photograph dead animals. Have been, off and on, for ten or more years. And I don’t know why.

Joy’s rationale for photographing dead animals – roadkill, specifically – was conveniently included in the clear plastic envelope behind this beautiful 12x18 inch color photograph of the dead bunny. I was totally intrigued by this “ROADKILL MANIFESTO,” which describes her thought process over the course of “a decade of documenting roadkill.” Throughout this article, I have included some of the animal images from her website. I’m also going to use her manifesto as sort of an outline for this article.

After reading Joy’s manifesto and later interviewing her, I may be a bit closer to understanding my own motivations. (It took me ten years, by the way, to be able to answer the question of why I make photographs in cemeteries. The reason? To get closer to death, to come to terms with my own mortality and to soften the blow when loved ones die – I think.) So what is Joy’s motivation? Get closer to death? Become more in tune with her mortality? No she says, she’s always had a clear understanding of that. She photographs dead animals as a way of defining her - and their - place in nature. She sees animals as her relatives - our relatives – beings that deserve our respect. Perhaps one reason she feels so grounded in this idea is because she views animals as very clearly part of our extended family. The fact that she personally has very few blood relatives may have influenced her thought process.  

http://joyh.com/index.html

(Bold Quotes are from Joy Hunsberger’s ROADKILL MANIFESTO:)

“A lot of people don't understand my art. They think I'm trying to shock people, or that I'm romanticizing death or dark ideals. None of these is the case. My work is actually a very deep, ancient conversation. My obsession with taking pictures of roadkill is rather complex.

In its simplest form, it is a deeply spiritual ritual that pays homage to our four-legged ancestors, a practice in compassion, and also a raw energetic connection to the natural world. It also assumes a more complex vantage point as a critical dissection of our/my place in the current world, and an apology for our/my disruptive influence upon it.”

"Melanie" 02/10/2006 - Worcester, PA

Many people would rather not look at images of dead animals, but I, for one, am strangely compelled to observe roadkill. I am also compelled to photograph it ... them?  I never really thought about why this is. Joy has conjectured that people are turned off by these visual reminders of death for a number of reasons. For one, it is because it reminds us of our own mortality. In addition, I believe, because it also makes us feel guilty for killing them.

Does Joy go out looking for roadkill? No, she says, she always just happens on it. Such occurrences are fairly common in the suburbs, she states. Based on my own experiences, it is not an altogether safe practice to be running out into traffic to photograph a dead raccoon or deer. Again, I don’t fully understand why I do it. Maybe this could be part of the reason:

“Hovering over these precious vessels that once held life, shining a light in the dark, I have slowly been transforming my camera into a shamanic tool all these years. In many ways, my work creates opportunities for transformation for both the deceased and also for the viewer, and raises further questions about the separation and integration of art, life cycles, and spirituality, from one another. All of life is a delicate balance, with our time in this realm balanced by our passing from it.

As a society, we fear death because we do not fully understand it, but even more so because we cannot control it. This is an imbalanced view. Current societal ideals state that we must control as much as possible, shunning any symbiotic relationship with nature, any ideas of impermanence, and anything that is not immediately gratifying to the ego, in favor of the illusion of security, born from control. This upsets the balance of life.”

The preceding paragraph may sound familiar, if you read my January 3, 2016 blog post, “The Death Salon.” What Joy writes is in accord with what Caitlin Doughty, founder of Death Salon and The Order of the Good Death tells people. “The Order of the Good Death is a group of funeral industry professionals, academics, and artists exploring ways to prepare a death phobic culture for their inevitable mortality … [it] is about making death a part of your life… accepting that death itself is natural, but the death anxiety and terror of modern culture are not.” - (http://www.orderofthegooddeath.com/about)

"Jerry" 05/14/2005 - Worcester, PA

“In truth, anything that we cannot control becomes almost morally unacceptable, eventually becoming intolerable. In our casual conversations, we tend to shy away from any prolonged observation of our mortality, as it is considered distasteful, vulgar, and sometimes dangerous. The topic of mortality is generally considered to be uncomfortable in the current culture as a whole, and as such, is even sometimes used as a means to steer public opinion.”

From the Death Salon website:  “Death is sanitized and hidden in contemporary culture to the point of becoming a taboo subject. We aim to subvert this death denial by opening up conversations with the public about death and its anthropological, historical, and artistic contributions to culture” (http://deathsalon.org/). This makes me think of how popular the Mexican Day of the Dead has become in non-Mexican culture. Do all these people appreciate the meaning behind Día de Muertos or is it just a good excuse for a party while wearing skull-design fashions?

Joy thought it ironic that the punk rock girls at the Philly Punk Rock Flea Market with all their skull-and-crossbones clothing appeared rather squeamish and shied away from her large photographic display of death. Reactions to her work vary. She came across a customer in a bar once where she was one of several artists who had their work set up to sell. The person - a fine arts painter - was drawn to her work but did not understand why. He told her, “I can’t stop looking at your work, it will haunt me if I don’t buy it.” Finally, he had to make the decision with the money that remained in his pocket – buy that last drink or buy one of Joy’s photographs. He opted for the latter, stating that he did not understand why, but he had to own it. I may have a clue as to why he felt that way.

Something I’ve noticed in doing research to help people find their ancestors’ graves at (the formerly abandoned) Mount Moriah Cemetery in Philadelphia, is that many people need a tangible link to their past. They need to feel a greater connection to their human family. Might this be part of the reason people are drawn to Joy’s photographs? A subconscious kindred association with these animals? A need to include them as part of a larger family?

"Paul"  05/26/2007 - Souderton, PA

If the images in this article speak to you in some way, and you need to have a deeper association with them, please visit Joy Hunsberger’s website to view many more examples. You may see something that speaks to you, something that urges you to have a deeper conversation with yourself about man’s place in the “hierarchy” of the animal kingdom. All 12 x 18 inch color photographs are available for purchase by contacting Joy at joy@joyh.com

When I first walked up to Joy’s large exhibit and realized what the subject matter was, I immediately wondered about people’s reactions to her images. People react to my own cemetery photography in certain ways, but my work is more about abstract death - Joy’s is graphic and real. Observers may behave one way, yet cannot, or will not allow themselves to verbalize (or even understand) what it is that deep down really bothers them about her roadkill photographs.

“In the end, people seem to be afraid to think of their bodies as merely temporary arrangements of atoms which house an eternal life-force. They are attached to their limited, constructed ways of thinking, and any change scares them. For this reason, my work is often not well-received.”

I wonder if people are better able to accept the death of an animal if it appears peaceful, versus one that has suffered a tragic, blood-spattered demise? I wonder if the people that react most violently to Joy’s work are those steeped in the denial of their own mortality? I wonder if they’re the kind of people who buy way more books than they could ever possibly read due to the subconscious belief that if there are books to be read, their lives will be extended to allow that to occur.

What are Joy Hunsberger’s own reactions to seeing dead animals in person? She told me that she does not know why she started making such photographs, but she has learned to appreciate the beauty of these animals from her close vantage point. For instance, she was astounded by the sheer size of a roadkilled elk hit by a tractor trailer. “Four people could have sat on its back, each of it’s hooves was a big as my head.”

My own reaction to roadkill has changed since seeing Joy’s work and reading her Manifesto. This winter, I stopped by the side of the road to photograph a dead white-tailed deer in northern New Jersey. I was fascinated by the dead gray, pupil-less eyes and the doe’s long, snow-frosted eyelashes, details I had never looked for in the past.

When Edward S. Curtis photographed Native Americans in the late 1800s, he no doubt grew to appreciate the detail his subjects had to offer. His goal was to photograph and document as much of Native American life as possible before that way of life disappeared. Ironically, it was to disappear because of the White Man’s presence. Our ancestors, the European settlers, mowed down the indigenous people on the North American continent much the same way as we now mow down animals on our highways, except the latter have even less of a say. Progress and capitalism, damn anyone or anything that gets in our way.

"Santiago" 11/11/2004 - New Britain, PA

"Many artists create idyllic imagery of beautiful moments and pleasing aesthetics. This has its place, and serves its purpose. However, we understand from experience that desiring for things to ALWAYS be easy, happy and controllable (comfortable) is unrealistic, unbalanced, and unnatural. It affords no opportunity for growth or reflection, and therefore circumvents the very root of compassion, empathy and resilience."

That last statement reminds me of my own desire to photograph crumbling, gothic cemetery angels rather than the pristine, unblemished white marble ones. I suppose I see the worn ones as more “realistic,” less idyllic. Most people like to view the world through rose-colored glasses.

I choose to spend a lot of my time around dead things – I have been doing cemetery photography for about fifteen years and have written about my experiences in my weekly Cemetery Traveler blog for the past five years. The more time you spend around dead things, the more you realize that you cannot avoid the inevitable. Once you realize that certain things are beyond your control, perhaps you can instead focus on bringing more beauty and understanding into the world while you occupy a place in it.

“This expectation of ease has become a silent agreement in society that makes us manic, mentally unstable, sick, oppressed and depressed. It turns us into control freaks to the point that we ignore our own ethics and the balance required of life, and actually pushes us towards death even faster at an unnatural pace.

Our current practices in consumption, gratification, and apathy are unbalanced and destructive. However, their nature has been aesthetically transformed by a social agreement to focus solely on their pleasurable, attractive short-term attributes as if only they existed. This way of thinking acts as a social lubricant, binding us together in a common mindset, but in reality, the long-term effects of this type of denial quietly rob us of our souls, break down our bodies, and weaken our minds.

It leads us to make unconscious choices that we might not sanction with our conscious minds. For example, currently in suburban culture, many people need to drive to get to their jobs. Driving = job = money = food & shelter. Without food & shelter we would die.

The short equation is: Driving = Life and its counterpart, 
Not Driving = Death.”

"Maxine" 10/26/2003 - Williamsburg, VA

Why is it bothersome to us when we are reminded that we kill animals with our motor vehicles? Is it the guilt that we feel as a result of the killing or the fact that we cannot totally control our environment? Joy believes that the capitalist vision of our interaction with nature does not allow us to confront the reality that we, like roadkill, will eventually come to the end of our lives.

She tells me that today [Western] society is death-phobic or suffering-phobic – we avoid anything related to suffering or death. She believes that if we accepted death for the natural place it has in our lives, we would all make more rational decisions. Inevitable death should be, she believes, a reminder for us to make the most of our time on earth. Death is the punctuation mark, she states, the period at the end of our life’s sentence. With this way of thinking, our challenge, I suppose, is to complete the sentence as best we can.

Is this abhorrence of death learned or innate? Joy relates the story of an eight-year-old boy who ran up to her display of dead animal photographs and expressed shock at what he saw. In her calm, soothing voice, she said “You don’t have to be afraid, they can’t hurt you. They’re dead.” “Oh,” said the young boy, and his demeanor changed. Kids in general usually have less of an issue with her work.  

"Alexander" 04/08/2008 - Trooper, PA

"So many people drive each day in order to "avoid death" that there are traffic jams and accidents. They are willing to play the odds of taking the life of an animal, a human, or even themselves, in order to try to circumvent a more probable demise, given the above equation.

What this boils down to is that those people are willing to swap the (perceived) more probable, eventual risk of losing their own lives, with the (perceived) less probable, more immediate risk of taking another’s life.

In this way, roadkill has become an unconscious form of proxy. When we see an animal in the street, most people do not think about this substitution, or recognize them for the sacrifices that they truly are."

This brings the idea of value to the fore – is the life of a common housecat more valuable than the life of an elk? Since we are more closely connected to domesticated animals like cats and dogs, do we place greater value on their lives?  Why is the life of a deer less valued than the life of Cecil the lion (http://cecilthelion.org/)? We assign values to different lives – human lives included. Joy’s opinion is that all life matters. The more she studies roadkill, the better she understands the idea of the end of our own human existence. We should plan a “good death,” she believes, a preparation for the end through, dare I say, enlightenment? How can the average person reach a place of equanimity about dying?

The writer Jiddu Krishnamurti (regarded as one of the greatest philosophical and spiritual figures of the twentieth century) said:

“Most of us have fear in one form or another; and where there is fear there is no intelligence. … Do you know what intelligence is? It is the capacity, surely, to think freely, without fear, without a formula, so that you begin to discover for yourself what is real, what is true; but if you are frightened you will never be intelligent.”
-  From the book, Think On These Things

"Homer" 03-18-2009 - Kulpsville, PA

As a way of helping us make a personal connection to the animals she photographs, Joy Hunsberger, the artist/interpreter, gives proper NAMES to her subjects. For example, “Homer” the opossum, and “Eden” the deer. If you look at her website (http://joyh.com/), you’ll see this. I have captioned her photographs in this article with the names she gave these deceased animals. I find this naming process fascinating. I asked her about it and she feels it is a way to put the animals on an equal footing with us, to help us make a cerebral connection with them. 

I thought about Mark Twain’s The Diaries of Adam and Eve, and how he wrote that it was Eve who gave names to all the animals. Adam was confounded by the whole process. In Twain's description of Eve, she is the one truly engaged in this glimpse into Eden. Eve is fully engaged in the life process - the thinker, seeker, the emotionally active being. It is no wonder that it is Eve who names the animals (and discovers fire, by the way), while Adam sits in a tree and complains, “I wish it would not talk. It is always talking.”

"Eden"  03/18/2009 - Worcester, PA

Twain's Eve states at one point, “I have taken all the work of naming things off his hands, and this has been a great relief to him, for he has not gift in that line, and is evidently very grateful.” Eventually, Adam comes to appreciate her wisdom. After she dies, Adam says, “Wheresoever she was, there was Eden.”

Progress for Gladwyne Jewish Memorial Cemetery

All Souls Day is an appropriate day to write about my recent visit to Gladwyne Jewish Memorial Cemetery, even though All Souls’ is a Christian Holy Day. All Souls’ is when Christians commemorate the faithful departed, and in a way, this is what a group of twenty-five people did recently in this formerly abandoned Jewish cemetery. They showed their respect for the thousand or more of their ancestors who are buried in this formerly neglected cemetery.

On October 25, 2015, we gathered at Beth David Synagogue in Gladwyne, Pennsylvania (Montgomery County, outside Philadelphia), for a tour and lecture by resident experts on the topic of nearby historic Har Hasetim Cemetery (which is being renamed Gladwyne Jewish Memorial Cemetery). The Synagogue and its staff were very gracious to all the visitors and the rabbi came through the lobby to say hello. Rachael Griffith of the LandHealth Institute greeted everyone and made introductions. Everyone was invited back after the tour for refreshments and to discuss a variety of topics relevant to the cemetery's revitalization, including headstone restoration, gravestone mapping and database creation, and restoring the cemetery's forest ecology. Har Hasetim, a few hundred feet down Conshohocken State Road from the synagogue, is now owned by Beth David Reform Congregation, but we’ll get to that in a bit.

In the fall, our thoughts often turn to death – days get shorter, leaves turn brown and fall off the trees (at least in the northeastern United States). It is nature’s last gasp before the snow flies. November 1, Día de los Muertos, is the Mexican Day of the Dead, when friends and family are remembered who have died. During my recent trip to Har Hasetim, I thought about how close it was in time to Kol Nidre, that solemn time of remembrance (the end of September) when many Jews visit the graves of their parents. This day in Gladwyne, however, was more of a celebration of the future of this historic landmark, the day of the public unveiling of the master plan for its rejuvenation as a permanent memorial to the Jewish population in Philadelphia.

My fascination with this nineteenth century burial ground began many years before I actually found it. Quite literally, it is in the woods, land-locked by surrounding properties. The only way to get to it is by walking or driving across someone’s private residential property. That’s assuming you knew where it was. For many years, it seemed to be just an urban legend until a friend of a friend showed me the way.

The previous times I’d been here I just bumbled in by myself, not really knowing whose property lines to avoid. Turns out I was trespassing! During the tour, we were led into the cemetery along the “Bridlewild Trail,” an easement right-of-way created back when people rode horses through these parts. Currently, the path leads up someone’s driveway and through their back yard.

So, on this lovely fall day, the entire group of us walked down colorful tree-lined Conshohocken State Road to a stone house (occupied, I might add) that was originally the cemetery caretaker’s house and mortuary. We walked up the driveway and through their back yard, making a right turn at the shed and a left around the woodpile! Beyond, and in the woods, are the remnants of the graveyard’s old brick entrance pillars. (The owner of the property came home as we were leaving about two hours later, and was very cordial. The Friends group had previously contacted him so he knew about the tour.)

Once inside the cemetery, the historian of the Friends, Steve Finkleman, gave a detailed account of the cemetery’s checkered past. Interesting points in time include its creation in 1890, its various changes in ownership, infringements on its land, moving of graves, the Sheriff sale, and how Beth David snatched it from the grasp of real estate developers in the 1980s.

 "I got a call from a neighbor who said, there's a bulldozer at the cemetery and they are going to bulldoze the graves," said Richard Elkman, who created the Committee to Save the Gladwyne Jewish Cemetery. The neighbor "was out there with a shotgun to hold them off." - Philly.com

In 1999, after a ten-year legal battle, Beth David Reform Congregation in Gladwyne was granted legal ownership of Har Hasetim (which means, “Mount of Olives,” by the way) Cemetery. Beth David is currently leading the effort to preserve and transform the burial ground into a memorial site with easier access.

The Friends of the Gladwyne Jewish Memorial Cemetery (established in 2012), which is affiliated with Beth David, “has commissioned a plan to clean up the cemetery and restore the graves and headstones, while preserving the plants and trees that are now the natural habitat.” The master plan was created with the help of Philadelphia’s Land Health Institute.

From the Philly.com article, "Effort to restore an old Jewish cemetery:

"The group envisions trails and contemplative spaces, and wants to research the histories of those buried at the cemetery. Digital mapping technology may be incorporated so that visitors can pick a gravestone and use a mobile device to discover the background of the person beneath it.

The transformation will cost more than $1 million, according to the group, which is developing a fund-raising plan.

"We want to tell the story of the cemetery," said Stephen Anderer of Wynnewood [President of the Board of Trustees of the Friends of the Gladwyne Jewish Memorial Cemetery]."It's the story of Jewish immigration at the turn of the century, particularly poor Jewish immigrants. This is a beautiful place to tell that story."

Many of the people interred at Har Hasetim are those who emigrated to America before or during the first Russian pogrom in 1881. Most of the burials (many of whom were children) ended around 1917, when the cemetery fell on hard times. Beth David has access to the burial records, and is planning to put them online at some point. They have been kept by Har Jehuda Cemetery in Upper Darby, PA, which owned Har Hasetim for a period of time.

"Cradle" graves to hold plantings

As our group (which included a fellow in a walking boot and crutches!) walked down the hillside path through the old cemetery, past odd-looking cork trees and wineberry shrubs, various people took turns talking about different aspects of the cemetery. Scott Quitel, ecologist and founder of the LandHealth Institute, told the group about the native landscape and its flora and his company’s proposal to plant sustainable, low maintenance trees and flowers in the cemetery. An interesting discussion ensued around “cradle” graves and how these were meant to hold lives plantings. Carol Yaster from West Laurel Hill Cemetery discussed the different types of stone used for the various grave markers, and how some weather better than others.

According to a recent article in The Jewish Exponent, in September 2015, "West Laurel Hill Cemetery [Bala Cynwyd, PA] announced a partnership with the Friends of the Gladwyne Jewish Memorial Cemetery (operated by Beth David Synagogue). Over the past year, West Laurel Hill staff has helped with the GPS mapping of graves, volunteered at work days, and most recently presented them with funds to help implement their new master plan, which will restore the historical grounds."

Our unique behind-the-scenes tour of Har Hasetim provided insight into the historical, cultural, and spiritual significance of the Gladwyne Jewish Memorial Cemetery as well as the complex tasks involved in transforming this formerly abandoned site into a woodland memorial park. A reflecting pool is planned for the site, possibly near the bottom of the property shown in this photo.

It was a wonderful experience being in the company of all these enthused, learned people who are so passionate about respect – the respect our ancestors deserve. I also felt good about being here for the first time without trespassing! Details should be worked out soon as to how the public can access the property. If you would like to keep up with the progress of the Friends of the Gladwyne Jewish Memorial Cemetery, visit the cemetery, or help in any way, please visit the website or email them at admin@gladwynejewishcemetery.org.

Visiting the Cemetery

The Cemetery is located off Greaves Lane, east of Conshohocken State Road in Gladwyne, PA.  Currently, we are open to visitors by appointment.  Email us to schedule an appointment.

How You Can Help 

Come to a regularly scheduled work party.

Attend a special event or tour

Become a member

Donate

Contact us to volunteer and tell us about your special skills or interests

Email: admin@gladwynejewishcemetery.org

Address:  Beth David Reform Congregation, 1130 Vaughan Lane, Gladwyne, PA 19035

Phone: (610) 896-7485, x104

References and Further Reading:

Friends of the Gladwyne Jewish Memorial Cemetery Website http://gladwynejewishcemetery.org/

For a brief overview of the history of Har Hasetim Cemetery, please see the Philly.com article, “Effort to restore an old Jewish cemetery.”

Previous Cemetery Traveler blogs about the Gladwyne Jewish Memorial Cemetery:

Passover and Gladwyne's Abandoned Jewish Cemetery

Graves Beneath the Snow

A New Era for Abandoned Jewish Cemetery

Please Explore this Abandoned Jewish Cemetery!

“Richmond Cemeteries:" Book Review and Interview with the Authors

In September, 2014, I had the good fortune to be introduced to the newly published book, Richmond Cemeteries. The latest addition to Arcadia Publishing’s popular “Images of America” series, Richmond Cemeteries explores the history buried in and around the graveyards of Richmond, Virginia. As a review of sorts, I spoke with the authors, Christine Stoddard and Misty Thomas.

Arcadia’s “Images of America” books follow a pretty standard format – they focus on local or regional historical topics and are paperback pictorial history books, so they are primarily images. Richmond Cemeteries has a plethora of interesting photographs and a thought-provoking narrative to pull it all together. Don't expect just pictures of cemeteries, but also pictures of lives remembered, vintage images to help us reconnect with our past. (All of the photos in this article are from the book.)

Richmond Cemeteries is truly wonderful, I was really taken by it. Never having visited Richmond, I was quite curious about the city and its famous cemetery, Hollywood. Before I set before you the transcription of my dialog with the authors, let me give you a synopsis of the book based on the Arcadia press release:

Richmond, Virginia, the capital of the Confederacy and once one of the most prosperous cities in the United States, is home to a range of cemeteries that tell the story of American trends in honoring the dead. The book boasts 200 vintage images, many of which have never been published, and showcases memories of days gone by.

African slaves were interred in Shockoe Bottom’s so-called “burial ground for negroes,” U.S. presidents James Monroe and John Tyler were buried in Hollywood Cemetery, and Civil War soldiers were commemorated throughout the metropolis. During and shortly after the Civil War, Richmond worked to accommodate thousands of new graves. Today, Richmonders work to preserve and celebrate the past while making way for the future.

Highlights of “Richmond Cemeteries” include details of urban legends of Richmond, historical figures buried in Richmond cemeteries, and stories related to Edgar Allan Poe, who was a Richmond resident.  

Ruins after the burning of Richmond, 1865

Interview with authors Christine Stoddard and Misty Thomas

CT: Cemetery Traveler

 A: Authors

CT: Cemeteries focus people’s attention on certain eras, events, or people. Your book has a wealth of information for everyone. I’m especially intrigued by the various entries on American Civil War dead. Readers sometimes only grasp the magnitude of that war when told that there were so many dead bodies (620,000), but few realize there was no planned effort to deal with that or to treat them with dignity. Can you comment on that?

A: The war was so bloody that people back then had no idea how many graves to dig. They dug graves and then they had to dig some more. They just kept digging and digging, often quickly and not very deep. They had to get bodies out of the fields and into the ground. But there were just so many men dying that graves of any kind—let alone proper graves—couldn't be dug fast enough. It must have been horrifying to live then.

As the capital of the Confederacy, Richmond was at the heart of the Civil War

CT:  Richmond having been the capital of the Confederate States of America, I was intrigued by the wartime photos of the city in your book. Also, the related wartime history in Richmond’s Shockoe Hill Cemetery, such as the Union Army soldiers buried there. Can you comment for our readers on why Union soldiers would be buried south of the Mason-Dixon Line and Confederate soldiers buried in the north? This is something people generally don’t think about.

A:  It was a matter of convenience more often than not. As previously mentioned, they just couldn't dig graves fast enough. After the war, some groups, like the Daughters of the Confederacy, raised funds to get their men reinterred on their land, but often bodies were buried close to where the soldiers had died.

CT:  In your introduction, you talk about the African American Burial Ground that was paved over by Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) to build a parking lot. A similar situation occurred in Philadelphia in 1956, where Temple University wanted the nearby land occupied by Monument Cemetery for a parking lot. They convinced the city to condemn it. Since I do a lot of research into abandoned cemeteries, I find it wonderful that you would mention that travesty right there in your introduction. Why did you do that?

A:  We mentioned this travesty in the introduction because it remains a controversial topic in Richmond. It's very timely because, last year, Mayor Dwight Jones reintroduced the idea that Richmond should build a baseball stadium in historic Shockoe Bottom. Now that I live in Northern Virginia outside of Washington, D.C., I'm still hearing about Shockoe Bottom because it has become international news. Earlier this month, Actress Lupita N'yong'o of the film Twelve Years a Slave went to social media to voice her opinions about preserving Richmond's slave trade history. This isn't just a Richmond or Virginia matter. It isn't even just an American matter. It's a global matter. It's about social justice and how racial discrimination persists even in death.

Jefferson Davis and family, post-war (1884 or 1885)

CT:  Your stories about famous people related to the stones and monuments in Richmond cemeteries are wonderful. I never saw the document reproduced on page 38, “An Address to the People of the Free States,” by Jefferson Davis. Being a northerner schooled with northern history books, this sort of document makes you realize how biased history books are. What is your take on that?

A:  Definitely! I grew up in Arlington, Virginia, a suburb of Washington, D.C. and home to Arlington National Cemetery. It is a strange place in the sense that it is culturally both Northern and Southern. But it's also very multicultural. Arlington attracts people from across the country and the world for its federal government and think tank jobs. My history classes varied from year to year, depending on where my teacher that year was from. Certainly history is biased. Most of what we're taught as Americans (Northern, Southern, Midwestern, West Coast, what have you) was written by older, white, Protestant men. There's nothing wrong with belonging to that demographic, but that's not the only kind of person who should be telling the stories.

Confederate Army Gen. J.E.B. Stuarts's temporary grave

CT:  Other photos in your book are fascinating, such as J.E.B. Stuart’s “temporary” grave (p.28), Edgar Allen Poe’s mother Elizabeth (p. 62), the post-War photos of Jefferson Davis and his family (p. 24). These are images I’ve never seen. Do you feel your book provides a history lesson based on graveyards?

A:  Yes, that was one of the objectives: To show how cemeteries are rich in all kinds of historical clues. They may be the setting of ghost stories and a place you visit for Memorial Day or the anniversary of a loved one's death, but they are also a treasure trove for historians and history enthusiasts.

Poe's grave in Baltimore

CT:  You say that Edgar Allen Poe considered himself a Virginian since he grew up in Richmond. So many cities claim a part of him! Kind of like Mark Twain. How likely is it, do you think, that his body may one day be reinterred (from Baltimore) in Richmond?

A:  I doubt that will happen. I actually made a documentary about Poe's life in Richmond and his claim as a Virginian. It's called The Persistence of Poe (www.poerichmond.com). When I screened it at a bookstore in New York in 2013, your very question became of the focus of the Q&A session. The fact remains that Poe died in Baltimore and the Poe Society there is a passionate group. Since Poe doesn't have any descendants clamoring for him to be reinterred, I suspect he will stay right where he is. Reinterment is an expensive process and, even as a Virginian, I believe that money is better spent operating the Poe Museum and its many programs.

CT:  I have friend who is a member of the Sons of Confederate Veterans organization and his current project is documenting (with GPS positioning and database entry) the locations of Jewish Confederate Civil War Veterans buried in Philadelphia. I believe he has so far documented about 200, which were not previously in the database. I will loan him your book and point out the photo of the “Hebrew Confederate Soldiers Cemetery” (p. 119). How did you find out this is the only Jewish military cemetery located outside Israel?

A:  In all honesty, we went with what Beth Ahabah, the synagogue that maintains the cemetery, said. The Confederate section is reportedly the only Jewish military cemetery in the United States.

Walkers at family plot (around 1903)

CT:  I have to say, your book is filled with certain things that I find personally gratifying. For instance, the several vintage photos of Maggie Walker and family tending family grave plots in Evergreen Cemetery (pps. 46-48). This is unusual in many ways. Obviously people have made photographs of their own family in cemeteries since the dawn of photography, but the public rarely sees them! When Mount Moriah Cemetery in Philadelphia was abandoned, and then rescued (in 2011) by the Friends of Mount Moriah Cemetery, Inc., it was discovered that there existed only a handful of vintage institutional photographs to document the cemetery’s history (est. 1855). As a member of the Friends, we relied on descendants sharing their personal family photographs with us to supplement our documentation of Mount Moriah. Can you comment on the historic value you see in the Walker photographs? 

A:   I like the Walker photographs because they show that cemeteries are places that can and should be enjoyed, not feared and avoided. My mother is from Central America where they celebrate el Día de los muertos, or Day of the Dead. This two-day holiday coincides with All Souls' and All Saints' Days in early November. I mention it because I love the spirit of el Día de los muertos. It asks us to be happy, not sad, when thinking of death and to uphold it as a natural part of life. It asks us to remember and respect our ancestors. It even asks us to dance and picnic in cemeteries. That's an attitude I wish more Americans had. I think maybe the Walker family did.

CT:   Was Hollywood your initial focus for the book? You could obviously write an entire book on just that cemetery, but you gave it equal time with the other Richmond cemeteries. Comment?

 

U.S. President James Monroe's cast iron tomb in Hollywood Cemetery

A: One of the reasons I decided to pitch and pursue the project was because I had noticed so many books and articles about Hollywood and, to a lesser extent, Shockoe Hill and St. John's Church graveyard, with comparatively little attention paid to Richmond's other cemeteries. I wanted to put Hollywood in geographic and cultural context. It may be the city's most popular cemetery, but I wanted readers to know that it is not the only notable burial ground. Other cemeteries, especially ones established for or by Richmond's African-American community, have too often been neglected from public memory and basic care. Perhaps by raising awareness of these other cemeteries, the public will feel compelled to better maintain their graves and grounds.

Memorial Day, the tradition of remembering our American armed forces dead, began at Hollywood Cemetery

CT:   Do you have any advice for people who want to visit these wonderful Richmond cemeteries? A starting point, perhaps?

A: Richmond offers a wealth of historic sites for anyone interested in American history. My recommendation is to choose your focus. I suspect that most of our tourists are Civil War buffs, in which case Hollywood, Oakwood, the national cemeteries, etc. are musts. But if you're an Edgar Allan Poe fan, then Shockoe Hill and St. John's can't be missed. If you're into African-American history, then you have to see Evergreen, Barton Heights, Woodlawn, and the slave burial grounds. Know that there are battlefields, museums and archives, such as the Valentine History Center and the Library of Virginia, that may appeal to your senses, too. 

During my time as a VCU student, I often explored Richmond's historic sites with my then-boyfriend, now-fiancé, on the weekends. I moved to Alexandria, Virginia for a year and came back to Richmond for a year to work on this book and a couple of other media projects, only to discover that there was still so much I hadn't seen. Now that I live in Falls Church, Virginia, I'm still learning of new places. Here's an example: Despite having written about it, I saw Arthur Ashe's grave for the first time today.

CT:  I thank you for introducing me (and hopefully many other readers) to the cemeteries of Richmond besides Hollywood Cemetery! That is the one everyone talks about. A couple I know used to live near there and have taunted me with stories of its grandeur, and how they enjoyed strolling its grounds. I have another friend who has done restoration work there. Unfortunately I’ve never been to Hollywood Cemetery or Richmond itself. Your book has whetted my appetite! Thank you!

A: Thank you, too! We're very proud of the book and the forthcoming documentary and appreciate your support.

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Christine Stoddard, the co-author of Images of America: Richmond Cemeteries, is also the director of the new documentary, Richmond's Dead and Buried (www.rvadeadburied.com), which premieres Nov. 8 at the James River Filmmakers Forum in Richmond. Please check this Facebook event page for more information on the documentary screening.

Additional screening dates will be listed on RVADeadBuried.com as the events are scheduled.

The book, Images of America: Richmond Cemeteries is available at bookstores, independent retailers, and online retailers (click for Amazon link), or through Arcadia Publishing at (888)-313-2665 or online.